Reflecting on a Major Heat-Wave in Death Valley, California (credit: This Day in Weather History)8/18/2017   DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks all the way back to August 18th, 1917, we find ourselves at a notable point in California state weather history. Many people from around the globe are aware of the fact that Death Valley, California is particularly well-known as one of the more consistent locations within the United States which seasonally experiences particularly hot Summer-time day-time high temperatures. However, when it comes to setting day-to-day day-time high temperature records in this part of the United States, there are very few periods of time during any year in recorded history which stacks up to the Summer of 1917. It was during the Summer season of 1917 that surface observing stations in Death Valley, California recorded a remarkable 43 straight days with day-time high temperatures of at or above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The historical part of this being the 100th anniversary of August 18, 1917 is that this marks the anniversary of day on which this day-time high temperature streak of 120 degrees Fahrenheit or above ended since the maximum day-time high temperature on August 18, 1917 only managed to reach 119 degrees Fahrenheit. Nonetheless, this neat historical weather factoid goes to show what this region is capable of producing temperature-wise under the right circumstances for a long enough period of time.
To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz
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 DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks back to August 16th, 1992, we arrive at the date of formation for one of the more famous hurricanes in United States history. As far as the evolution of Hurricane Andrew is concerned, there is no question whatsoever that Hurricane Andrew was by far one of the most destructive United States hurricanes on record. It is also worth noting that it started modestly as a tropical wave which emerged from the west coast of Africa on August 14, 1992. From there, the same tropical wave spawned a tropical depression on August 16, which then proceeded to become Tropical Storm Andrew the following day. Being as though Hurricane Andrew later its first of two landfalls in southeast Florida as a Category 5 hurricane which left it in a very unique class of storms that made a U.S. landfall as a Category 5 hurricane. Attached above is a great shot of Hurricane Andrew on August 23, 1992 at approximately 1231 UTC.
To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we look back to August 14, 1969, we arrive at the historic landfall of Hurricane Camille. Hurricane Camille is predominantly remembered as being a powerful, deadly, and destructive hurricane which formed just west of the Cayman Islands on this day. During the course of its lifetime, it went from being a tropical cyclone which rapidly intensified to a tropical cyclone which rapidly weakened upon making its second landfall along the central U.S. Gulf Coast region. Upon forming in the Western Caribbean, it quickly gained strength and by the time it reached western Cuba (as reflected by the Hurricane Camille track graphic above), it had already achieved Category 3 hurricane status. And as many people who experienced this storm can remember, the rest of the way in which this tropical cyclone's life-cycle unfolded was history.
To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Remembering the Landfall of Hurricane Connie (credit: NWS Newport/Morehead, North Carolina)8/12/2017  DISCUSSION: Through turning the clocks all the way back to August of 1955, we arrive at the anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Connie. In reflecting on the landfall of this particularly strong tropical cyclone, there is no question that this was a prolific event at the time based on the quick landfall track of Hurricane Connie over the last 24 to 36 hours prior to the point of landfall. Nonetheless, as reflected by the map attached above (courtesy of David Roth from the Weather Prediction Center), there was a very large spatial domain over which substantially heavier rainfall accumulated during the course of this tropical cyclone's approach. More specifically, a large portion of the heaviest rainfall accumulated both in and around the coastal and semi-inland regions of the Mid-Atlantic states on the East Coast of the United States. To elaborate further on the specifics of the flooding and coinciding damage which unfolded during this event, there is an exact excerpt from the actual event summary attached below.
"Rainfall amounts of over 10 inches were observed along and west of where Hurricane Connie made landfall (Figure 3). In Eastern North Carolina, the most significant flooding occurred along the Pamlico River in Washington where National Guardsmen evacuated nearly 1,000 people during the storm. Power was knocked out over much of Eastern North Carolina and rainfall flooding closed U.S. Highway 17 in the New Bern area. The hurricane caused nearly $40 million in damage in North Carolina, much from crop damage. There were 27 deaths in the state related on Connie, including traffic deaths, drownings, people in damaged buildings and electrocutions." To learn more about the details surrounding both the period leading up to landfall and the landfall itself of Hurricane Connie, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Remembering A Historic Hurricane for Southern Louisiana (credit: This Day in Weather History)8/10/2017  DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks back to August 10th, 1856, we arrive at the landfall of a truly historic Louisiana hurricane. This particular hurricane destroyed Isle Dernieres or Last Island, a resort south-southwest of New Orleans on this day. The highest points of the island were under five feet of water. The resort hotel was destroyed, along with the island's gambling establishments. To truly establish the natural vulnerability associated with this small island which used to be located in the far southern portion of the state of Louisiana, read the exact excerpt attached below.
"Isle Derniere, 24 miles long and at points a mere mile wide, lay five miles south of the Louisiana mainland in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of New Orleans off Terrebonne Parish. A mix of beaches, dunes and marsh, it stood about five feet above sea level. In the 1840's, wealthy Louisianans built the first of 100 summer homes on the island. Visitors came by steamboat to swim in the sea, paddle out on excursion boats, walk the beaches, explore the island by horse and carriage, and twirl on a carousel. Muggah’s Hotel, the largest structure on the island, included a restaurant and ballroom and offered bowling and billiards. Isle Derniere was advertised as a summer resort, and it’s unlikely that anyone lived there year-round." To learn more about this particular event, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks back to August 7th, 2010, we arrive at the occurrence of an EF-4 tornado touched down south of Tyler in Richland County, North Dakota and tracked to the northeast for roughly 2.5 miles before crossing the Bois de Sioux River into Wilkin County, Minnesota. In Wilkin County, the tornado continued for another 2.5 miles and lifted about 650 pm CDT. The total track length was about 5 miles, and peak winds were estimated at 175 mph. Thus, it goes without saying that this tornadic event was quite memorable for those people who were living either near or directly along the path of this historic North Dakota tornado. To learn more about this particular severe weather event, watch the brief YouTube video attached above.
To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: Although weather can often have a variety of profound and interesting applications to real-life situations, sometimes the impacts of weather (and in particular, those impacts emanating from severe weather) can be quite unexpected and quite violent at times. In looking back to August 2nd of 1985, this date marks a little past the 32nd anniversary of the terrible crash of Delta Flight 191. During this tragic event, neither the crew aboard the aircraft nor air traffic control was aware that below what appeared to be a rather insignificant thunderstorm existed a strong downdraft of cold, dense air. Such cold, dense air beneath can, often does, and this case did ultimately induce the occurrence of a microburst which destabilized the aircraft's ability to maintain stable flight. Upon final approach, the pilot of the Lockheed L-1011 ran into the microburst and was unable to lift out of it. He lost control of the aircraft, hitting several objects on the ground before finally crashing into a water tank near the runway. 133 people were killed and 31 were injured. This event would go on to prove the value and sincere importance of having both commercial and private aircraft pilots be weather-ready at all times so they are fully prepared for situations such as this one.
To learn more about this particularly tragic past event, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Looking Back at Hurricane Celia (credit: National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, Texas)8/1/2017  DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks all the way back to forty years ago this week, we arrive at the fairly historic western Gulf landfall of Hurricane Celia. Celia was an even more impressive tropical cyclone based on the fact that it was a storm which formed during the earlier part of the onset of the more advanced remote sensing era. Thus, even with the advantage of regional forecasters having consistent access to earlier GOES satellite imagery, there were certainly still challenges with the wind and rainfall forecast based on the slow forward speed associated with the west-northwestward movement of Hurricane Celia just prior to and the time of landfall in far southeastern Texas. Attached below is part of the full discussion from the original post courtesy of the National Weather Service based in Corpus Christi, Texas.
"Hurricane Celia blasted the Coastal Bend of Texas. On August 3rd, 1970, Hurricane Celia made landfall near Port Aransas as a major Hurricane (category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) with sustained winds of 130 mph. Celia is the last major hurricane to make landfall on the middle Texas Coast. Celia's life cycle consisted of two rapid intensification periods, but most interesting was the explosive damaging wind gusts in the western semi-circle of the eye wall, in addition to the typical damaging eastern half of the center." To learn more about this particular event, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz |
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